Further intensification of law enforcement and habitat management followed, and the Department of National Parks reported in 2022 that no instances of active tiger poaching had been detected since 2013.
“Conservation in general is a very tough business and when there are successes, I think those successes should be celebrated. And certainly, in Thailand, the situation for tiger conservation in some areas is extremely positive,” McWilliam said.
While tiger numbers are increasing, critically, so too are the numbers of other hoofed animals like deer and banteng, the prey for big cats. One recent study found that their numbers have doubled within a sanctuary inside the complex, which directly enhances the ability of tigers to thrive.
As an extra step to speed up the population increase of prey fauna, work has already begun on the dedicated off-site breeding of particular species, which will then be released into the wild.
“If we wait for them to rehabilitate naturally it’s quite slow and too slow for the tigers in the area. So, we want to help by making arrangements with breeding centres to release them here,” Teerawut said.
